Process of deoxidizing copper



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

W. W. KEYS. PROCESS OF DEOXIDIZING COPPER.

No; 433.086. Patented July 29, 1890.

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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

. W. W. KEYS. PROCESS OF DEOXIDIZING COPPER.

No. 433,086. Patented July 29, 1890.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM W. KEYS, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT.

PROCESS OF DEOXIDIZING COPPER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 433,086, dated July 29, 1890.

Application filed September 6, 1889.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WVILLIAM W. KEYS, a citizen of the United Statesresiding at Bridgeport, in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Process of Deoxidizing Copper; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My said invention consists in a novel method or process of treating copper and its alloys with a view to eliminating therefrom 7 those oxides, suboxides, and more or less of such other gaseous impurities as cause the metal when melted to flow sluggishly, and when'developed into ingots or castings to be more or less open or porous, and to also be quite susceptible to corrosion by acids and acid solutions,whether used as cast metal, or in a rolledior in a drawn condition.

In other words, the prime objects of my invention are to secure large runs of metal alloys composed, mainly, of copp'er, (and without zinc or lead,) which when melted will be of high specific gravity, will flow smoothly and freely, and enable, for instance, the successful production of solid homogeneous hollow cylindrical castings of great size, quite thin, and of very great strength, and also, as a matterof special importance, the metal must have a minimum susceptibility to corrosion by contact with hot acid solutions. I have discovcred that all of these ends can be attained by purifying and deoxidizing the metal, and especially the copper, as fully as possible, and l have also discovered that the metal can be, and is, Well deoxidized by exposing it while in a melted condition and highly heated to direct contact with the products of combustion developed from the burning of imflammableoils, preferably crude petroleum, although many of its educts or products will serve a good purpose. The oil is burned either within the smelting-furnace or so adjacent thereto as to admit of the delivery of said products of combustion to the furnace and to its contents, without being unduly combined with atmospheric oxygen, it being important that the carbon and hydrogen contained in the flaming products of combustion shall pass in Serial No. 323,206. (No specimens.)

' contact with the surface of the highly-heated molten metal, accompanied with but little, if any, atmospheric oxygen, inv order that the oxygen evolved from the metal may be promptly taken up and consumed, the resultant carbonic and hydric oxides, as well as other volatile impuritiesof the metal, being carried out of the furnace into the usual flue and stack. The oxygen freely leaves the metal, because "of its greater affinity for the carbon and hydrogen than for the metal, and hence the best results accrue when the admission of atmospheric oxygen to the furnace is carefully guarded and controlled, and at times it is desirable to exclude it as fully as may be possible, inasmuch as in proportion to the lack of atmospheric or exter nally-supplied oxygen within the furnace will the oxygen be the more freely and etfectively eliminated from the metal.

In working my process I secure the most satisfactory results by using petroleum as the sole fuel for heating the furnace and melting the metal, because of the complete exposure of the gradually-melted metal to the flaming products of combustion, and although this result can be fairly well attained by the use of many well-known kinds of furnaces I have devised one which not only enables the gradually-melted metal to be continuously exposed, but also thin flowing bodies of the melted metal, as well as an accumulated mass of highly-heated molten metal in the pot of the furnace.

If a furnace of the usual open hearth type is to be used, the oil may also be relied upon as the sole fuel, or the metal may be first well melted and highly heated by the use of either ordinary or natural gas, and then, while excluding atmospheric oxygen as fully as may be practicable, burning the oil within the furnace or directly delivering its products of combustion to the surface of the molten metal, so that in either case the oxygen may be freely delivered from the metal.

If the oil be under pressure and delivered to the furnace in a finely comminuted or sprayed condition while the molten metal is highly heated, good results will accrue, but care shouldbe taken to deliver it in small quantities, and preferably intermittingly, so as to avoid the-deposit of oil on the surface of the metal and the consequent danger of defiling the boiling or ebullient/metal with carbon. So, also, should the spraying be offected without the. excessive use of either compressed air or steam, because of the inci- 3 illustrate the same in lateral vertical section on. lines so and g, respectively. Fig. 4 in longitudinal vertical section illustrates an ordinary form of furnace adapted to the use of gas for melting the metal and provided with means for the introduction of the oil to be burned for deoxidizing the metal.

In my novel furnace, Figs. 1, 2, and 3, the pot A, fine a, and stack 7) are substantially as heretofore in metal-working furnaces. In the front wall 0 there are several apertures well guarded by suitable doors. Within and at the front portion of the furnace there is a melting shelf or floor B, which is slightly inclined toward the pot A, and at its highest or outer side ithasa raised ledge (Z. Between this floor and the front wall there is an open space or pocket (1. Adjacent to each front opening 0', inside of the furnace and above said pocket, there is a cast-iron oil-burner C, supplied with oil by way of a vertical duct e, and below each burner there is a east-iron drip-pan f to receive any accidental overflow of oil. It sometimes occurs that portions of these burners and pans become melted, and the object of the pocket d is to receive such melted iron as well as masses of solid carbon liable to drop from the burners and pans, and also spattering oil, it being important that all of these be kept from admixture with the metal to be .deoxidized.

Suitable well-guarded openings g are provided in the side walls of the furnace opposite the melting-shelf to admit of charging the shelf B with metal, which is piled thereon in one or more loose or open piles, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1. Other side openings h, also well guarded by doors, are provided,

for affording access to the pot A whenever desirable. The meltingshelf having the requisite quantity of metalpiled thereon, the doors to the several openings 0 are opened and oil slowly supplied through the ducts e to the burners O and then lighted, the products of combustion passing directly through and over the pile of metal into and through the furnace to the stack. As the heat of the furnace increases, the openings 0 are closed, or nearly so. The masses of metal in the pile gradually melt down, and all the while the products of combustion take up more or less oxygen from the metal, and as the niolten metal flows downward and over the edge of the floor in thin streams it is further and fa-' vorably exposed to the deoxidizing. products of combustion, and as the molten metal accumulates in the shallow pot its temperature is raised and its oxygen given elf to the carbon and hydrogen ever present and ready to attract and unite with it in combustion, and during this final portion of the operation little or no atmospheric oxygen should be admitted to the furnace. The doors of the side openings 72. may be provided with mica-covcred eye-holes to enable observation of the surface of the metal. lVhen ebullition of the metal ceases and soon after its surface assumes an oily, glassy, or reflecting appearance, the deoxidation may be considered as complete,'the metal being then ready to be run olfin the usual manner.

The time required for the operation necessarily varies according to the character of the metals used and the prevailing atmospheric conditions. About four hours is generally necessary for working a charge of, say, from fifteen hundred to two thousand pounds, commencing with a cold furnace, and while one charge is being run off the melting-shelf may be reloaded for another run, and asimilar charge would thenrequire but about one hour. This novel furnace will be made the subject of a separate application for Letters v Patent. (See Serial No. 34:4,016.)

In using a furnace as shown in Fig. 4, the

the oil is very slowly supplied by way of the duct e, below which in the bottom of the firing-passage of the furnace there is a concavity e, intowhich more or less of the dropping oil is delivered and kept from passing into the pot A.

It is obvious that the time required for the deoxidizing process in using this last-described furnace will be greater than with the one devised by me, because in using mine the metal as it gradually melts will yield up more or less of its oxygen, so that the molten metal accumulated in the pot requires less purifying than when the cold metal is placed directly in the pot and partiallyflooded in molten metal or as when after a portion of the metal has been melted cold metal is dropped therein. It will therefore be understood that my present invention is not dependent upon the use of any special form of furnace, nor even to one so far modified in its construction as to enable it to gradually receive and properly control the burning oil, inasmuch as the oil maybe contained in shallow pans, which may be introduced, forinstance, from time to time into the firing-passage of a furnace. It is also to be understood that although the best results will accrue from the use of the oil as a melting medium, as Well as for deoxidizing" the metal, and while I make special claim thereto, the main feature of my invention is restricted to exposing highly-heated molten copper and its alloys to contact with the products of combustion developed by the burningof petroleum or other hi-ghly-infiammable hydrocarbon oils; and

Therefore I claim as new cure by Letters Patentand desire to se 1. The hereinbefore-described method or process of deoxidizing and purifying copper and its alloys by highly heating the molten metal, and. then while practically excluding atmospheric oxygen, exposing-tome metal flaming products of combustion developed -from the burning of hydrocarbon oils.

3. The hereinbefore-described 'method or process of deoxidizing and purifying copper and its alloys by melting the metal by exposure to the hot products of combustion developed by burning hydrocarbon oils, then raising the molten metal to a high temperature, and then While practically excluding atmospheric oxygen further exposing the metal to the flaming products of combustion afforded by'the oil. 7

' In testimony whereofI affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

F. W. SMITH, J12, JNo. S. FINcH.

,Corrections in Letters Patent No. 433,086.

It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent No. 433,086, granted July 29, 1890, upon 1 the application of William Keys, of Bridgeport, Connecticut, for an improvement in Process of Deoxidizing Copper, errorsappear in the printed specification requiring the following corrections, viz: In lines 16 and 17, page 3, the clause exposing, to the metal-flaming products of combustion, should read exposing the metal to the flaming prodacts of combustion; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with these corrections therein that the same may conform to the record of the case" in the Patent Ofiice.

Signed, countersigned, and sealed this 5th day of August, A. D. l90.

CYRUS BUSSEY, Assistant Secretary of the Interim.

[SEAL] ROBERT J. FISHER,

Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

